A Little Bit of Hope
by imsuchanut
Summary: When the Doctor first loses Rose, he wanders around London, and ends up in their old chip shop. There's a picture of her and some man with a bowtie on the wall; and memories of her are so painful he vows never to return. Years later, after the loss of the Ponds, he finds a place that brings back memories. Wait, didn't the man in the photo wear a bowtie? Their story isn't over yet.


**A/N: Thank you so much for reading! It starts out a bit sad, but hold on! Because the Doctor's gonna realize something that makes everything a bit better. After all, she is his Fortuna!**

**P.S. Anyone have/know any cute DoctorxRose stories they want to share? I'm having a craving, and I've read through so many multiple times. I need some new material!**

"Damn!" The Doctor cried out as he tripped over a pebble. Today was not going his way. In fact, this whole week was bloody miserable. Definitely one of the worst weeks of his life, actually, probably _the_ worst. This was certainly harder than Gallifrey burning, for sure.

Only one thing could be worse than the destruction of one's planet and entire species: the loss of the person who made it better. The emptiness caused by the air in his hand, the lack of person in his TARDIS, the constant silence was driving him mad. He needed to get control before he did something stupid. Like cross his own timestream so that she wouldn't slip. 'Cause, as much as he was grieving, he wasn't about to cause the collapse of the universe. Yet.

Give him a few more weeks without her, and then he'll see.

The Doctor was wondering around London now, he had decided to get some air after he dropped off Donna. Besides, this was her city. It only felt right that he pay tribute to her memory. _Stop it,_ he thought. _Don't treat her like she's dead_. Regardless, it was strangely comforting to him to be here. She had walked these streets, he could tell, because oddly enough, he could see faint traces of her timestream on this path. It was definitely weird, but he told himself it was because he was always around her, that's why he could detect it.

There was no way she was here recently.

He had made sure he landed in the year they missed, and the date on the paper proved it.

The Doctor followed the time traces 'til he ended up at a very familiar place; the chip shop where they had their first date. It brought tears to his eyes, but he forced himself to go in anyways. As soon as he opened the door, he was hit with the smell of grease and memories. Memories of his old face, their adventures together, and the happiness that was always present when she was with him.

The Doctor ordered, sat down in a slightly sticky corner both, and started eating. When he got his order, he stared at his chips and mindlessly stuffed them in his mouth as if to drown the pain. The Doctor was perfectly content to stay like this for some time, but a large, balding man bumped into him. The Doctor looked up, prepared to give him the "Oncoming Storm" look, but he faltered. The man was hanging something up on the wall. Hanging in a cheap frame, taunting him was a picture of Rose Tyler. She was smiling, beaming even, and was in the arms of another man. It was brand new, and underneath it was a plaque with the words "Customers of the month". The man had floppy dark hair, green eyes, and a large jaw. Worst of all, he was wearing a bowtie. _How repulsive,_ the Doctor thought. The pair definitely had to be a couple, their pose and their looks too intimate for them not to be. The Doctor wondered if this was the infamous Jimmy Stone, but then he thought of all he knew about Rose's ex and decided it could not have been him.

That left only one other choice: the man had to be some boyfriend Rose had not told him about. Rose and the Doctor had always been close, but now that she was gone he realized how much they still had to learn about each other. _And now, I won't even get the chance. I couldn't even tell her how I feel!_ The chips suddenly felt stale in his mouth. The Doctor stood up, and walked out of the chip shop. Too many memories were associated with the food, and he vowed never to eat them again. _Maybe I am being a bit melodramatic, but I…I just can't._

Years and a whole new body later, the Doctor was broken yet again. Not as bad as he had been after the Battle of Canary Wharf, but nonetheless he was depressed. He had just lost the Ponds. All their time together, all the memories, and now they were just…gone. He couldn't ever see them again. _This is all too familiar, maybe it's a-no. You can't keep thinking about her. It's time to move on._ The Doctor sighed, and got up from his spot on the cemetery ground. He walked back to the TARDIS, and groaned at the console screen.

The TARDIS was out of fuel. It was most likely from being around the Weeping Angels. This meant he was going to have to go to Cardiff, and he did not want to put up with Jack. Being around the immortal man was hard enough normally, but he didn't have the strength to deal with him right now. Maybe in a couple centuries. But one look at the screen again told him he didn't have that. The fuel level was at critical.

The TARDIS landed, and she kicked the Doctor out while she refueled. Apparently his negative energy was messing with his head, and he screwed up too many wires while trying to tinker. _Rassilon, it is not my day._

The Doctor checked the screens for signs of Jack before he left, and then put a hood up. Stupid, yes, but he was not willing to take a chance at being seen. He ran across the square and into the shadows on the nearest sidewalk. The Doctor wandered up and down Cardiff aimlessly, always keeping an eye out for the Captain. At one point he thought he saw him, and quickly turned the corner.

_Of course I managed to get here. _

The Doctor stood in front of a grungy chip shop with only a half-lit neon sign. The memories came to the forefront of his mind, and refused to leave. The shop was old and the smell of grease wafted out. Somehow, the shabbiness of it only made the memories stronger. He stood in front of the window, and looked at his reflection. The last time he came to one of these, he was a different man. _That was not a happy day, and only got worse when I saw the picture of Rose and that-oh, shit. That man…that man she was with was me! _Of course he managed to cause a Time Loop. As if that day couldn't get any worse. How did he not even notice until now?

But that was beside the point. The Doctor was going to have to complete the loop now. He had seen the photo, it was too late to block his memories. Unless he wanted to cause a paradox, he was going to have to face Rose again. _Why the hell does this have to be like my last time with the Ponds?_

To make things worse, he was going to have to visit Rose before the incident at Henriks, so that she wouldn't know anything was amiss. He really didn't want to have to face Rose again, to act like they were complete strangers. And how was he supposed to get in a relationship with her? He couldn't even manage to do it properly when she knew who he was! And most importantly, how was he supposed to get away with it? Pre-Doctor Rose was in his teens, and he definitely looked like he was out of them. _But really, she didn't look like she was in her teens in that photo. She looked like she did when we travelled together._

He groaned. _Rose Tyler is going to be the death of me. Oh, wait. _He started laughing at his own joke, until he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the window and realized what he looked like. A man with a hood on, at night, a somber expression, and laughing at the window of a chip shop. If she saw him like this, there was no way Jackie Tyler would ever let her daughter date someone like him so that he could complete the Time Loop. Course, she never liked him anyways. Especially in his ninth form. To be fair though, he did look about twenty years older than her daughter, and made her miss a year.

Wait a moment.

_We missed a year. And the last time I went to a chip shop, I was in the year that we missed_! The cogs turned in his head, and the Doctor's mind was suddenly filled with possibilities. Rose had been with him in that picture. But Rose wasn't a teenager in that picture. It was the year they missed, so they must have been on the TARDIS. _Please, please let this be real._ The Doctor looked up at the chip shop sign, and smiled.

'Blaidd Drwg'

"Oh, Rose Tyler. This time, I'm not going to lose you. I promise."

Suddenly, there was a little bit of hope.

**A/N: Thank you so very much for reading. Please, please review! It really is awesome, and means a lot. **

**If you have any prompts, **_**please**_**, send me them! I love writing oneshots, so if you have anything you'd like to see I'd be happy to do that.**

**Until next time!**


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